Amtrak

April 24, 1985|By Deanne Brandon

2 VIEWS. Amtrak can get along without federal subsidies, and the federal government will work with state officials to keep the passenger railroad system alive. That message: From Transportation Secretary Elizabeth Dole to a House subcommittee Tuesday. Amtrak can survive, Dole said, if the states and those who use the railroad pick up a bigger part of the tab. Amtrak president W. Graham Claytor Jr.: If the subsidies end, the railroad will go out of business on Sept. 30, start of the new fiscal year. Dole: Travel on Amtrak accounts for only 2 percent of nationwide intercity traffic and does not justify continuing subsidies at an estimated cost of $4 billion over the next five years.